News

Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC of Brainerd, MN, and Archimedes Systems, Inc. of Waltham, MA, announced today that they have formed a strategic alliance to focus on the design and development of web-based retirement income planning tools and resources. Under the new alliance, Convergent 's senior consultants will collaborate with Archimedes' senior development team in the design, testing and ongoing enhancements of retirement income planning software that will be used by financial professionals as well as individual investors.

"The synergy between the two firms is very strong," said Ben Norquist, president of Convergent. "Archimedes has been developing customized, high-end financial planning software for the top financial services firms for over two decades. My team is very excited to be working with such an experienced team of designers and developers."

Martin Leinwand, president of Archimedes, echoed Norquist's comments, adding, "We're very pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with such an experienced team of retirement industry veterans. The senior team members at Convergent are widely recognized experts in the retirement services industry with a proven track record of designing next generation solutions for the retirement services industry."

Scheduled for release in Q1 of 2006, the alliance's first jointly designed retirement income planning platform will be geared toward the financial advisor community. "For our first release, we have designed a robust, yet manageable, retirement income planning toolkit," said Norquist. "Our goal is to help advisors stake out turf in the burgeoning baby-boomer retiree market. The reports that our tool generates will address the hot issues for this generation: dual-career retirement, semi-retirement, and part-time work." According to Norquist, subsequent releases scheduled for the second and third quarters of 2006 will incorporate more advanced features such as integrated, multi-generational RMD stretch IRA planning concepts as well as Roth conversion analysis and advanced 72(t) analysis.

Convergent Retirement Plan Solutions, LLC is a firm comprised of seasoned retirement industry veterans dedicated to creating tailored compliance, education and business development solutions for the retirement services industry. The principals of Convergent have hands-on experience in virtually all aspects of the retirement services industry from retirement product conceptualization and development to marketing, sales and distribution, to servicing and administration. This "in-the-trenches" perspective allows Convergent to provide real-world solutions to the real-world challenges faced by retirement plan providers. For more information regarding Convergent, refer to www.convergentrps.com or contact Ben Norquist at 218-824-4900.

Archimedes Systems designs, builds and delivers personalized decision-making tools for the financial services and employee benefits industries. For over 20 years, Archimedes' staff has provided financial institutions and plan sponsors with print and Web-enabled Archimedes-hosted tools that perform retirement, education, and other personalized employee communications. In the college funding market, Archimedes is a leading business-to-business provider of college financing and Section 529 decision support tools.

Financial service professionals, plan sponsors and benefit consultants can visit www.archimedes.com to learn more about Archimedes' products and services.